Here Without You
by FallingStar95
Summary: One night, a manticore attacks Camp Half Blood. Percy is gravely injured, and Annabeth struggles with one thing: saying goodbye to her best friend. Based upon the song "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down.


_**I'm here without you, baby  
**__**But you're still on my lonely mind  
**__**I think about you, baby  
**__**And I dream about you all the time**_

I, Annabeth Chase, laid in my comfortable bed in the Athena cabin at Camp Half Blood. For once, I wished that I could get some sleep. Some nights, I felt as if I would never settle down and rest, but tonight, I was actually tired for once. There was a racket outside, but I couldn't hear it clearly due to the fact that I had my headphones jammed in my ears to block it out.

"Hey, some people are trying to get some rest here! Cut the noise!" I shouted outside, pulling my pillow above my head. I turned up 3 Doors Down and tried to sink into my soft mattress.

I almost succeeded in drifting off to sleep before I heard screaming from outside. I sat bolt upright in bed and threw my covers away to the floor, grabbing my invisibility cap as I ran outside.

Everyone I knew was gathered around Thalia's old tree, where the Golden Fleece hung. They all stood inside the protection of the camp, although the real noise of a battle was coming from outside the perimeter. I ran to the edge of the camp and looked outside the gate, only to see the most terrifying sight I had ever witnessed. Travis and Connor Stoll were huddled behind Thalia's tree, shaking violently as they watched Percy fighting a manticore. From the looks of it, Percy wasn't holding up all that well at the moment.

"What's happened?" I screamed, holding my cap at the ready for if I needed to fight.

"Connor and Travis were messing with the Golden Fleece, and the security around the camp was weakened. The manticore sensed it and came here, but Percy got the fleece back to the tree in time to save Connor and Travis, but now he's stuck fighting it!" Someone told me. I didn't bother to look at who was speaking.

I pulled on my cap, turning invisible, and grabbed a sword out of an unsuspecting camper's hand. I ran, unseen, towards the battle and stood beside my best friend. "Percy, it's me. I'll be at your left. Lure it over here so I can sneak up on it." I whispered in his ear.

Percy gave me a quick nod, although his mind was elsewhere as he focused on surviving the battle ahead of him. I ran to his left and swung the visible sword to let him know where I was. Percy ran around in a circle past me as I slashed at its belly. The manticore roared with rage, and I began to fight instead.

I was doing great. I could go on like this forever. I laughed triumphantly and whirled around the manticore to slash at its backside. Again, it let out a pained cry and tried to find me. It caught sight of my sword and lunged, although I was already running to the left as it swung its poisonous tail in my direction. Hoping to set it off course, I feigned to the right and then began running left again, but the manticore was clever. It angled its tail in my direction as I ran towards it. I skidded to a halt, but I was cornered. So, this was it, then. I was about to die.

As it whipped towards me, I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to come, but the speed of its strike didn't match the speed at which the blow came. And surprisingly, the blow never came, but I still heard screams from behind me. And through the screams, I heard a pained, human cry, and I was shocked that it did not come from me.

Cautiously, I opened my eyes and looked around. The manticore lay dead, Percy's beloved sword _Riptide_ emerging from its flanks. The crowd of campers behind me were all standing silent with shock, looking past me at something else, their eyes glazed. I gulped and turned around, already having a feeling what I was about to see.

Percy was slumped across a heavy tree trunk, his eyes closed and his face dripping with a cold sweat. My eyes lingered from his pained face down to his body, where a great, red circle was beginning to bloom across his t-shirt.

_**Everything I know, and everywhere I go  
**__**It gets hard but it won't take away my love  
**__**And when the last one falls  
**__**And when it's all said and done  
**__**It gets hard but it won't take away my love**_

As the manticore exploded into a faint shimmer, fading away into the air, everyone ran towards Percy, huddling around him worriedly. I pushed my way to the front and knelt in front of him. "You idiot!" I screamed. "Why did you do that? Why did you jump in front of me?"

Before Percy had a chance to answer, Chiron stepped to the front. "Out of my way! _Move!_" He yelled to the other campers, who immediately backed away slowly.

Chiron propped Percy's back up so that he could attempt to take the bloody t-shirt off of him. As Chiron tried to pull it over his head, Percy gasped in pain and clutched at his midsection, where the t-shirt was sticking to the bloody wound.

Chiron slowly eased the fabric out of the gash, ripping the shirt in half so he didn't have to pull it upwards.

When I looked down at his wound, my stomach did a backflip. I swallowed and opened my mouth, as if to let in fresh air, but I turned around on my knees and nearly vomited into the river. I managed to keep myself from retching since I hadn't eaten much recently, but I still didn't turn back to Percy. I couldn't stand to see all of the blood. His blood.

Finally, I shored up my courage to turn back to the crowd. My best friend needed me. I turned around and looked back to Chiron, who was now examining Percy's wound. "Manticore poison. It's too late to try to extract it." He sighed.

Although I knew perfectly well what that meant, I demanded "What does that mean?"

Chiron bit his lip sadly. "It means that…" He began to say, but he looked back down at Percy and stopped his sentence.

Percy swallowed and took in a shallow breath. "I know." He choked out raggedly.

I closed my eyes and tightened my jaw with the urge not to cry. Crying was a sure sign of weakness, which I, Annabeth Chase, never wanted to show. I looked down at him, knowing how much pain he must be in. The wound wasn't that deep, but the manticore poison had already seeped into his veins. If the wound wouldn't have killed him, the poison would, and poison was a much slower, more painful death.

Chiron knew it as well, and as he looked down at Percy, I thought I saw his eyes glittering. "Percy, my boy, is there anything I can do?" He asked.

Percy's eyes remained closed, and he continued to focus on taking shallow breaths in and out. He was hurting so much that it practically killed me to watch. If only there was something we could do… to deaden the pain for him as he died. So that he wasn't in so much pain. I saw a droplet of sweat run down his brow and splash to the dirty ground. And that's when I thought of it. Water…

"Chiron!" I exclaimed. "The water…" I managed to say. I was afraid that if I opened my mouth too long, I would end up crying, and I didn't want to do that. Not in front of all of the other campers… especially not in front of Percy.

Chiron nodded in my direction. "Of course." He agreed, but before he could stoop to pick Percy up, we all heard a familiar sounding bleat as the sound of hooves grew nearer to the camp's perimeter.

"_Perce!" _We heard Grover shout urgently, reaching us quicker than we'd ever seen him run before. "Oh, man, Percy, don't do this to me. Don't leave." He pleaded, looking down at the wound. "What…?" He started, and I turned to face him with the answer.

"Manticore poison." I whispered, pressing my lips together.

Grover looked as if he were going to pass out. "Ah, damn. C'mon, Percy. Pull through."

Percy opened his eyes to look at Grover, and he opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it after giving a quiet moan of pain.

"Chiron!" I exclaimed. "Please, hurry!" I demanded. I couldn't bear to see him in pain another moment longer.

Chiron sighed. "Yes, of course." He said as he slipped his arms under Percy, lifting him effortlessly.

As Chiron carried Percy back to the camp, I ran back to my cabin and jumped into my bed. My breath became uneven and ragged, and a few choked sobs worked their way up in my throat. I allowed myself my short cry, but then I decided I had more important matters at hand. I wiped my face of all the tears and walked back outside to where the camp was gathered outside the Big House.

I began walking up the steps to the house, but I stopped dead in my tracks as I heard a noise that would forever haunt me. I heard Percy Jackson scream. I heard him scream in pure agony, his breath catching in random places, and the tortured cries mixed in with the scream nearly split my heart down the middle.

I ran up the steps and burst through the door, not caring if I wasn't wanted. As I entered the room, Percy had only just stopped screaming, but his eyes were wide, and he was panting as if he'd just finished running a marathon. His wound was festering and turning a sickly shade of yellow. I closed my eyes and pursed my lips, swallowing back the bile in my throat.

Chiron and Mr. D were off to the side, filling a large claw foot tub with water, seeing as the river water outside was dirty and might only make things worse.

I closed my eyes for a moment to steady myself, but as I opened them, I began to walk through the door, knowing I probably wasn't wanted there.

Chiron caught my shoulder and turned me to face him. "You'll have your chance to say goodbye to him. Alone." He assured me. "Once we numb the pain for him, anyone who wants to can say goodbye to him."

I bit my lip and nodded slowly, fighting against the tears that threatened to overflow.

Chiron sighed. "Do you want to say goodbye to him last?" He asked me. He looked back at Percy, then to me. "I think that if he would choose anyone to be holding his hand in his last few minutes, it would be you."

I was struggling to keep it together now. I gave the matter a moment of thought and then slowly nodded. "Yes." I whispered weakly, unable to comprehend that Percy was really and truly leaving us for good.

Chiron nodded and quietly sent me off outside, where I sat down and waited as the campers walked inside to say their farewells to Percy Jackson.

I fell onto a bench near the lunch pavilion outside of the Big House and laid my head in my hands, massaging my temples as my head began to ache. Sighing heavily, I looked towards the Big House where Percy's life was now slowly withering away. And it was all my fault. If I hadn't misinterpreted the manticore's strike, he wouldn't have jumped in front of me, and we would both be laughing and joking around with Grover right now, without a single care world. Now I would never hear him laugh again.

It was all too much for me to take in. So I simply sat there in silence, wringing my fingers nervously in my lap. If only there had been some way to extract the poison in time… Percy would've lived. He would've been sleeping in his cabin, recovering from the strike, but he wouldn't have been in any danger of dying. But the poison had spread much too quick, and now… well, everything was a mess! His life was about in end in less than an hour, and it was all my fault.

"Why did you save me, Percy?" I whispered to myself, laying my head in my hands. "Why couldn't that be me?" I whimpered, thinking of how much pain he was in.

Time seemed to rush by me, as all of the different cabins entered the Big House. No one wanted to miss the chance to say goodbye to Percy. He was a hero in everyone's eyes, especially considering that he fought that battle to save Connor and Travis Stoll, and the whole camp. Why did he have to be so damn heroic? Couldn't he just shirk his loyalty every once in a while? If he had, he might be alive right now.

Behind my eyelids, I could see Percy's battle with the manticore replaying in my head. Only this time, I turned out of the way before the beast could get its tail near me, and Percy stabbed it through while I distracted it. If only that had played out, Percy and I would be laughing and sitting around the bonfire with the rest of the camp. Instead, he was on his deathbed.

"Annabeth." I heard someone calling. "Annabeth! Wake up."

I opened my eyes to find myself still laying on the bench. I sat up and found that I was uncomfortable and stiff. "Grover?" I asked emotionlessly. "What is it? Is he…." I whispered, trailing off.

"No, not yet. But Chiron doesn't think he has much time left." He informed me sadly.

I bit my lip and tried not to let any emotion show. "Have you already…?"

"Yeah, I already said my goodbyes." He told me. "It's your turn now, Annabeth."

I swallowed, but nodded slowly. "Is he in pain?" I asked timidly.

"Not as much as before. You were right about the water. It really did help numb the pain." He told me.

I took a deep breath and slowly stood to my feet, walking towards the Big House. I stopped in front of the door and turned ro face Grover. He nodded slowly at me, gesturing towards the door. "Go on." He urged me gently.

I took another deep breath in and walked through the door. I looked towards the large claw-foot tub in the corner, where I could see the end of Percy's foot sticking out the edge.

I approached the side and bit my lip so I didn't show any emotion near him. He had to be worried enough as it was. His wound was still a nasty, putrid color, but his facial expression was much more relaxed than before he was in the water. Although the pair of jeans he was wearing were now soaked, he looked completely dry, and hopefully somewhat comfortable, even in his time of dying.

I sighed and reached out a hand to stroke his soft mop of black hair. "Percy?" I whispered. "Can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes weakly, their bright sea green color piercing through my own as he looked up at me. Above all odds, his face stretched into a small smile when he saw me. Truthfully, I was somewhat relieved. I had thought I would never see his smile again.

I smiled sadly back at him. "Are you scared?" I asked him gently, trying to avert my eyes from the discolored wound in his stomach. It hurt me to look and know that would have been me if Percy had not stepped in. And why did he? I would've been perfectly content with dying today if he were next to me, holding my hand. I wondered if he felt the same way right now.

Percy sighed. "Yes… and no, I guess." He croaked. "I've had a little while to get used to fact that I'm dying. It's not that bad now."

I was genuinely surprised by his answer. I was expecting that he would be scared out of his wits by now. "Percy, why did you jump in front of me?" I demanded. "You shouldn't have done that, Seaweed Brain. You should've let it get me instead."

Percy shook his head with a small smirk. "Did you really think I was going to watch it attack you? Not on your life, Wise Girl." He breathed. "You're the greatest warrior Camp Half Blood has ever seen."

I tried to slip back into my no-emotion mode, but a small tear that I couldn't control glided down my cheek. "Don't even try to tell me that you aren't." I ordered. "You're an amazing fighter, but you have what most great warriors don't have, Percy. You have the heart of a hero." I told him, and I really didn't care how cheesy that sounded in idle conversation.

Percy smirked. "Sure, sure." He managed to say, closing his eyes for a moment and then forcing them back open.

I tried to be strong for him, but how could I? He was my best friend, and I was about to lose him forever. I'd never had a friend like him in all my years at Camp Half Blood. Not Grover, not Luke, not Thalia. He was the greatest that I'd ever had, and that was about to be taken away from me.

And I couldn't help thinking how selfish I sounded. I was complaining about how _I_ was about to lose something. He was losing _everything._ His whole life. Everything he'd ever had or worked for… gone. And _I_ was pitying myself already.

I sighed shakily, the sound someone made trying to hold back sobs. "Percy, you're the greatest friend I've ever had, and I need you to know that." I whispered softly. "I'm going to miss you so much."

Percy weakly reached his hand up to wipe away a few more tears that had escaped from my eyes. I couldn't believe this. He was the one who was dying, and still he was wiping _my _tears away? "I'll see you again." He whispered, and there was so much sincerity in his voice that it was impossible not to believe him.

I smiled faintly down at him. "I know." I agreed. I leaned down so that our faces were inches apart. "Until then, I'll always be thinking of you." I promised, pressing my lips to his.

As we kissed, the world turned upside down. I realized how much I truly loved Percy. After all, he was everything that I'd ever wanted in a boyfriend. He was funny, brave, heroic, a great friend, caring… why hadn't I realized it sooner? Why did I have to discover my true feelings for him now, as he was on his deathbed?

Slowly, I pulled away, looking down at him. He opened his eyes, and I just noticed how beautiful their sea green color was. He looked up at me and smiled. "I love you." He whispered, looking up into my eyes.

I choked on a sob, but I managed a watery smile. "I love you, too, Percy."

Slowly, with another small smile, his eyes began to close. I reached down to touch his face. "Percy," I whispered. "Don't go."

He opened his eyes again and looked up at me. "We _will_ see each other again… someday." He assured me. "And I'll always be waiting."

I reached down and took his hand, our fingers winding together as his eyes began to close again. "Goodbye, Percy." I said softly. "I love you."

He smiled one last time at me as his eyes slipped closed. And as his hand went limp in mine, I thought to myself that he was happy now, that he was no longer in pain. But even that thought couldn't comfort me. I laid my head on his and buried my face in his shoulder, tears silently cascading down my cheek.

"I miss you already." I whispered.

_**I'm here without you, baby  
**__**But you're still with me in my dreams  
**__**And tonight, it's only you and me**_

That night as I slept, I dreamt that I was in the training arena, practicing my sword fighting. In the dream, I knew exactly what I was doing as I fought, never misinterpreting a single strike. Why was it so simple now, but not tonight when it had mattered most?

Sweating and exhausted, I sank to my knees on the dirt ground and hung my head, ashamed. Percy's death had been my fault. All. My. Fault. This is why I had forced myself to practice this hard, so that it would never happen again. How could I have messed up when it had mattered? More importantly, why had Percy jumped in front of me, giving up his own life for mine? His life meant so much more than mine did. Camp Half Blood was his home, as it was mine, but although the other campers had known me longer, Percy was always a great friend to them from the moment he had returned from his first quest. Truthfully, although I knew everyone here well, I think they were all a little scared of me.

"Percy, why did you have to leave me?" I whispered. If he were still alive, he'd be here helping me practice. I sighed heavily and stood to my feet, only to see that all of the other campers had left. Now who was going to help me practice? If I couldn't keep fighting, I would fall back into the overwhelming sadness again.

"Hey, can I jump in?" I heard from a voice behind me. I spun around to see who my unexpected visitor was.

Percy stood behind me with a wide grin on his face. I stood to my feet and sprinted towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck. It was as if his presence had struck me dumb of my ability to speak. So, I simply hugged him as if he would disappear any second.

Finally, once I had a chance to think rationally, I pulled away sadly. "You're not real." I sighed. "You're only a dream."

Percy smiled, somewhat sadly, at me. "Yeah, but until you wake up, I'm as real as you want me to be." I told me. "That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

I looked into his eyes with a heavy sigh. "What if I wake up too soon?" I asked him.

Percy shrugged. "Then I'll be back here tomorrow night." He assured me, stepping forward to kiss my cheek. Even in my dreams, a blush rose up to my cheek once his lips left my skin.

I smirked. "Well then, it looks like I'm going to have to make the most of my time then." I told him, stepping forward and putting my arms around his neck. He, in return, snaked his arm around my waist.

I laid my head on his shoulder and looked up at the sky behind him, where a beautiful sunrise was beginning to form. "Percy?" I whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you jump in front of me?" I asked him, pulling away to look into his eyes. "If you hadn't, you'd be alive right now."

"But if I hadn't, you wouldn't be." He countered, brushing a tendril of my hair behind my ear.

"But Percy, even I had died tonight, it wouldn't have even mattered as long as you were there with me, holding my hand." I told him truthfully.

Percy's face stretched into the smallest of smiles. "It was the same case for me." He said reassuringly.

"But Percy, it hurt me to see you in pain and know that it was my fault." I protested, tears welling up in my eyes. I allowed myself to show emotion now, considering this was just a dream.

"Annabeth, if it was you that had died tonight, I would've wished that I _had_ jumped in the way. If I hadn't saved you tonight, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself." He told me.

"So, you chose not living at all over living with guilt?" I demanded. "And Percy, even if that were the case, you shouldn't have felt guilty anyway. _I _was the one who messed up."

He shook his head. "A life with you isn't a life." He said with a shrug. "And besides, everyone makes mistakes. It wasn't your fault."

At this, I nearly burst into tears. "Why do you have to be so damn forgiving? I made a mistake that cost you your life! That's not a forgivable mistake!"

I sank to my knees and held my head in my hands. "I can't believe this." I whispered, my voice choked up. "Why am I yelling at you, even in a dream?"

Percy knelt beside me and pulled me into his arms. His hand ran up and down my back in a soothing motion as he whispered words of assurance in my ear. I buried my head in his chest and let my tears run free, soaking the front of his t-shirt with salt water.

Percy kissed my forehead and pulled me to my feet. "We don't have much time left tonight," He told me, gesturing to the orange sky above us. "and I don't want you to be sad during the time we have left."

I smiled at him, wiping my remaining tears away. "Okay." I whispered, kissing his cheek. I stayed silent for a few moments, grabbing hold of my emotions. When I felt ready enough to speak again, I picked up my sword and shield and turned towards him. "In that case, let's duel, Seaweed Brain!" I told him with a smirk.

Percy took his pen out of his pocket and clicked it, turning it into _Riptide._ "You're on, Wise Girl!" He agreed, running towards me.

And as we fought, I knew that everything would be okay. Even if this was just a dream, I knew for myself that Percy wouldn't have wanted me to be sad. So, I appreciated this time as we continued to duel, laughing and shouting retorts at each other. Then, as the sun rose above the clouds, I knew that I barely had any time left. So, I dropped my sword and ran towards him, jumping into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head in his shoulder. And for once, I was not sad.

For here in his arms, I was finally at peace.

_**I'm here without you, baby  
**__**But you're still on my lonely mind  
**__**I think about you, baby  
**__**And I dream about you all the time  
**__**I'm here without you, baby  
**__**But you're still with me in my dreams  
**__**And tonight, it's only you and me**_

The song _Here Without You_ belongs to 3 Doors Down.


End file.
